McCarthy & Stone Cranleigh - Horsham Road

UPDATE 4 February 2016 – McCarthy & Stone appeal REFUSED

UPDATE 28 JULY 2015 – McCarthy & Stone lodge an appeal with the Secretary of State against the decision of Waverley Borough Council not to grant planning permission.
See the response from residents of Penwerris.

UPDATE 17 JULY 2015 – APPLICATION REFUSED BY WAVERLEY BOROUGH COUNCIL

We are delighted that Waverley Borough Council has now refused this application and the affordable housing in Penwerris has been saved.

This application to demolish two properties on the Horsham Road and build 25 McCarthy & Stone flats in Cranleigh was unanimously rejected by the Parish Council on 30 March 2015 and will now go forward to Waverley’s Joint Planning Committee.

If you don’t think this application should go ahead please submit your objections on the Waverley Planning Portal Ref WA/2015/0495.

Closing date could be as early as 22 April 2015, please don’t delay! The residents of Penwerris are relying on our support!

If you can please also email a copy of your objections to the members of the Waverley Joint Planning Committee to let them know exactly how you feel. They will have the FINAL SAY on this application.

We have a list of the Joint Planning Committee members’ email addresses.

If you would rather not use Waverley’s online planning portal you can email your objection to the case officer Peter Cleveland direct on planconsult@waverley.gov.uk quoting ref WA/2015/0495 and quoting your FULL name and Postal Address.

Alternatively if you prefer using pen and ink, you can write to Waverley Borough Council at (please quote ref WA/2015/0495 quoting your FULL name and Postal Address):
Mr Peter Cleveland
Planning Officer
Waverley Borough Council,
The Burys,
Godalming,
Surrey,
GU7 1HR

Always include your FULL name and postal address when writing or emailing.

We have put together the following points you might like to raise, however please put them into your own words. If you do not do this Waverley will not take them into consideration.

Points to consider:

(please do not cut and paste these points, please do put them into your own words, as otherwise Waverley Planning Officers will be free to bin them!!!):

This application is premature to the emerging Neighbourhood Plan.
This application is detrimental to the well being of the 21 residents of Penwerris.
It would lead to vulnerable people being homeless.
It would demolish the home of 21 people and a further large family home to make way for 25 flats, many of which may be at single occupancy.
It would substantially reduce the availability of housing in Cranleigh for people on low incomes.
It sets a precedent for housing of this density in the village.
This application is overbearing and constitutes over-development of the site.
It contravenes the Cranleigh Design Statement 2008 which states that it should have regard to the scale of existing buildings.

The site height contravenes guidelines in the Cranleigh Design Statement 2008.

27 parking spaces are inadequate for 25 flats and additional staff and will lead to hazardous parking on the Horsham Road. This also contravenes the Cranleigh Design Statement 2008

The building will have 24 hour lighting in the car park and in common parts which will intrude on neighbours and add to light pollution.
The scale of the property is out of keeping with the locale.
The noise from a site of this size would detrimentally affect the many close neighbouring households.
The traffic study is based on data for occupants over the age of 76 years old with few cars.
The transport study is based on developments of this kind in large towns and cities which do not have a rural bus service or the high car to household ratio of Waverley residents.
The Transport report states that: “the site is currently occupied by two dwellings. As such, one might expect the existing development to generate some 16 vehicle movements per
day. However, Penwerris is in multiple-occupancy and so the generation of this property is likely to be significantly higher than the 8 vehicle movements assumed above. Therefore, a total generation of some 20 to 24 vehicle movements can be assumed”. This statement about current traffic levels is is not true of the residents of Penwerris where there are only 6 cars.
It is the the policy of McCarthy & Stone to sell car parking permits to residents, for use of the parking spaces allocated for their use. This would put extra pressure on surrounding roads where residents could park for free.
The site is too far out of the village for older residents to be expected to walk and shop within the village and this would inevitably encourage extra car journeys to and from the site.
Construction traffic for a project of this size could not be accommodated on the Horsham Road.
The access and egress point does not have sufficient visibility for cars which often travel down the Horsham Road at speeds greater than 30 mph.
There will be limited visibility of pedestrians walking from the village out of Cranleigh due to the position of the site boundary and established planting as shown by the cross in the image below.